22 October 2016 - The Walter Rodney Conference

This year not only marks the Golden Jubilee of Guyana but also 2015 - 2024 marks the UN International Decade for People of African Descent.

It is in this context that this conference reassesses the influence of Rodney’s legacy for people of African descent, in particular bridging Guyana’s ethnic divides, and current student and intellectual activism. Rodney’s ground-breaking work profoundly shaped post-colonial debates around race, class and capitalism. Is the extraordinary importance of Rodney’s analysis still valid in the 21st Century?

The objectives are to inform and educate a new generation of people on the ideas and contribution of Walter Rodney, in terms of scholarship and activism, beyond the boundaries of Guyana and to raise awareness of the contribution of people of African descent, such as Walter Rodney, to scholarship that continues to be dominated by Europe/America as the Rhodes Must Fall and Black Lives Matter movements unfold.

Speakers:

Professor Richard Drayton

Richard Drayton was born in Guyana and grew up in Barbados and is currently Professor of Imperial History at King's College London. When he was a child, he knew Walter Rodney well. He is a historian of imperialism and anti-imperialism and the Caribbean. His book Nature's Government received the Forckosch Prize of the American Historical Association and in 2002 he was awarded the Philip Leverhulme Prize for History.

Listen to Richard Drayton's speech

Dr Maria del Pilar Kaladeen

Dr Maria del Pilar Kaladeen is a University of London Associate Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies. Her academic work has focused on the system of indenture in Guyana and its representation in colonial literature. Maria is currently working on the publication of her dissertation: ‘With Eyes of Wonder: Colonial Writing on Indentured East Indians in British Guiana,1838-1917’.

Maria del Pilar Kaladeens speech

Bekeowei Okoro - BAME Officer UWSU

Bekeowei has been elected by University of Westminster students to represent the interests of BAME students. Since his election he has organised Black history month and a number of related events throughout the year He is currently working on a number of campaigns with the goal of ensuring an adequate voice for BAME students within the University, an inclusive curriculum and ensuring that the University is meeting its equality goals.

Bekeowei Okoro's speech

also

Dauda Barry - Founder Queen Mary's Pan-African Society

Dauda Barry founded the Queen Mary Pan-African Society, QM University of London. A QM Computer Science graduate, he remains an active Pan-Africanist, Garveyite and Fanonian while developing his career as a Roboticist.

Dauda Barry's speech

Unfortunately, for technical reasons, we do not have a recording of Dauda Barry's speech